'He will fail farmers': Morrison pressured to tackle climate change as part of drought pledge

Prime Minister Scott Morrison is under pressure to acknowledge that climate change is a major driver of the drought gripping parts of regional Australia following his declaration that the big dry was his government’s number one priority.

Hours after his elevation to the top job on Friday, Mr Morrison cited the record-breaking drought as the nation’s “most urgent and pressing need right now”.

He underlined his commitment on Saturday, his first full day as prime minster, by meeting with national drought coordinator Stephen Day and Nationals leader Michael McCormack to discuss a national approach to the problem.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says national drought action is a top priority, and critics say climate action should be a key part of the response.Credit:AAP

“I’m from the city, I’m not pretending to know one end of a sheep from another but I do know when people are hurting in our country and they are hurting terribly,” the Sydney-based Mr Morrison said after the meeting.

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Mr Morrison will travel to Queensland early next week to witness first-hand the disastrous impact of the drought on farmers.

The vast majority of climate scientists say global temperatures are warming and human activity is the most likely cause. This is leading to extreme weather events such as drought.

Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, visiting drought-stricken areas in NSW and Queensland in June, said there was “no doubt that our climate is getting warmer”.

The contentious National Energy Guarantee, which purported to address emissions reduction and energy reliability, remains government policy for now. However the plan was hobbled following a backlash by the party’s right wing – a move that catalysed the leadership spill - and it is unclear whether the Morrison government intends to revive it.

As well as addressing the drought, Mr Morrison must also broker peace between warring factions within the Liberal Party, including arch-conservatives who sought to thwart climate change action under Mr Turnbull. Mr Morrison's office did not respond to questions over whether the drought response would involve tackling climate change.

Mr Morrison meeting with National leader Michael McCormack and national drought coordinator Major General Stephen Day.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Labor’s agriculture spokesman Joel Fitzgibbon said if Mr Morrison's drought pledge was truly serious he would “accept [that] drought cannot be considered an abnormal event but rather, that our climate is changing.”

The Morrison government will seek cooperation from the states and territories to implement a drought plan.Credit:Nick Moir

As well as prioritising a change to farming methods to help farmers become more resilient to climate change, the government should “embrace a carbon pollution mitigation policy”, he said.

“That is the threshold test. If he is not prepared to stand up and say ‘this is a consequence of climate change and I am going to commit to both mitigation and adaptation', then he will fail farmers.”

Earlier this month, the Turnbull government announced that farming families would receive additional financial support, bringing to more than $576 million the total support to drought-stricken communities.

Mr Morrison has pledged to involve the states and territories in a coordinated national drought response.

NSW Farmers vice-president Chris Groves said the elevation of the drought to the top of the government’s to-do list reflected the growing importance of agriculture to the national economy.

“We’ve got to start to focus on rebuilding, making sure we can get agriculture back to full production as quick as we can once the drought breaks," he said.

Mr Groves said while climate change should not be dismissed, drought was a recurring phenomenon that had affected farmers for more than a century and “we’ve got to separate the two”.

“What we need to be looking at is how we get through the natural disaster we are facing at the moment,” he said.

However University of Melbourne climate policy expert Robyn Eckersley said the government response to the drought should involve setting "a credible target" on cutting emissions, adding that the Paris pledge of a 26 per cent cut by 2030 was "fairly woeful".